A blog about wanderings

Tag: Puerto Viejo

Sometimes, you just need a break. One of the good thing with living in Costa Rica is that whatever you want is around. When I want to feel disconnected, I usually go for mountains, but last week I had a craving for lazy beach life and summer dresses. I am not a big fan of the heat and before arriving here, I expected to have a hard time coping with high temperatures (anything above 25°C). Actually I was wrong, San José is relatively cold since it is 1200m above sea level high, which is nice and a even better reason to escape from the city.

Ideally located in the middle of the country, surrounded by mountains, is San José. Go to the Caribbean coastline and south towards Panama, and in 4 hours you’ll find Puerto Viejo and Cahuita National Park.

Last December, I went to spend some time in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. I was volunteering in the bar of an hotel there, which was quite a nice way of getting to feel the vibe of the area. Puerto Viejo is rather different from what I have experienced in Costa Rica so far. This is the homeland of indigenous peoples Columbus encountered when he arrived there in 1502. Though they were slightly more numerous at the time, the Bribri are still around, so are the Cabécar, a little higher in the mountains. It is thus more multicultural than the rest of the country, also since this coast were populated by Afro-Caribbean populations. That means many people actually spoke English before they spoke Spanish. The road between San José and Puerto Viejo was built in 1979, which offered locals better conditions to travel around, as well as an invasion of tourists. In 1986 arrived electricity, in 2006, high speed internet.

Kaya’s Place in Puerto Viejo

Lazying in hammocks, listening to the waves crashing on the shore.

Making traditional breakfast at Kaya’s, Gallo Pinto (Rice and beans, eggs and tortillas)

It rains more in that area than in the rest of the country, and my stay was no exception but it did bring a special mood. I also enjoyed some nice sunny days.

Goat under the rain

Playa Negra, where the volcanic soil makes the sand look dark

Playa Negra, right before Puerto Viejo

One cool thing to do is to bike along the coast from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo and stop at the beautiful beaches on the way.

Punta Uva

Punta Uva

Playa Negra

Boat in Puerto Viejo

I went diving for a day, and here we went to have lunch, it was overall pretty alright.

Even though I had an overdose of Bob Marley and other reggae like music, I quite enjoyed Puerto Viejo, particularly the surroundings, the ride to Manzanillo and Cahuita National Park which is some 20km north of Puerto Viejo, which will be beach life #2 very soon!